Premier League: Fastest Players to 20 Goals

• Erling Haaland’s sensational debut season at Manchester City continued this week with a brace in the club’s 3-1 victory over Leeds.
• It was yet another milestone for the 22-year-old
• Here are the fastest players to score 20 Premier League goals

Erling Haaland’s sensational debut season at Manchester City continued this week with a brace in the club’s 3-1 victory over Leeds.

Haaland continued where he left off before the World Cup break with two goals at Elland Road, bringing his Premier League total to 20 this season.

It was yet another milestone for the 22-year-old, who has become the division’s fastest player to reach 20 goals.

Here are the fastest players to score 20 Premier League goals.

Toney Yeboah – 26 appearances

Tony Yeboah became an instant fan favourite at Leeds United after joining from Eintracht Frankfurt in January 1995.

The Ghana international immediately impacted the Premier League, scoring 12 goals in just 18 league appearances in the second half of the season.

Yeboah scored eight goals in eight games to reach the 20-goal mark the following season, including his iconic thunder goal against Liverpool and Wimbledon.

He was the first to win consecutive Match of the Day Goal of the Month competitions, and his thunderous shooting ability was feared throughout the division.

Diego Costa – 26 appearances

Costa is a goal-scoring machine.|PHOTO: Sky Sports|

Diego Costa arrived at Chelsea ahead of the 2014/15 season as part of Jose Mourinho’s search for goals, with the snarling centre-forward proving the ideal man to lead the line at Stamford Bridge.

Costa’s brilliant debut season for Chelsea helped them win the Premier League title, as he scored 20 league goals in 26 appearances.

He started the season with seven goals in four games, including a hat-trick against Swansea, and he didn’t stop scoring for the rest of the season.

It was the start of a prolific Premier League career for Costa, who won two league titles and scored 52 goals in 89 appearances for Chelsea.

Ruud van Nistelrooy – 26 appearances

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s performances for PSV Eindhoven, where he won two league titles and back-to-back Eredivisie Golden Boots, drew interest from the Premier League, but a severe knee injury delayed his move to Manchester United.

However, Sir Alex Ferguson’s patient approach was rewarded as Van Nistelrooy starred in his first season in English football. He was named the PFA Player of the Year after scoring 23 league goals in his debut season, a record for a foreign player in their debut season in the division.

In the first of five goal-laden seasons at Old Trafford, he scored 20 goals in just 26 league appearances. Van Nistelrooy scored 150 goals in 219 games for Manchester United and scored 20 or more league goals in four of his five Premier League seasons.

His best season came in 2002/03, when he scored 44 goals in all competitions, a figure that still stands as a joint Premier League record for a single season.

Andy Cole – 23 appearances

Andy Cole took the Premier League in his first season, scoring the goals that propelled Newcastle to the top flight.

Cole’s goals helped the Magpies finish third in their first season back in the Premier League, and he was named the PFA Young Player of the Year after leading the division in both goals and assists.

He scored 20 goals in his first 23 appearances and finished the season with 34 league goals, which earned Cole the Premier League’s Golden Boot and still stands as a joint record for a single season.

Only three players have ever scored more Premier League goals than Cole, with only one coming from a penalty spot.

Kevin Phillips – 21 appearances

The story of Sunderland forward Kevin Phillips’ first season in the Premier League is still remarkable because he shocked the league and set numerous records.

Phillips scored many goals to propel Sunderland into the top flight, but he struggled to adapt at the end of his first season there. He decisively dispelled those doubts by scoring 20 goals in his first 21 games to lead the Black Cats to a seventh-place finish.

Phillips passed the 20-goal mark mid-January and finished the season with 30 Premier League goals.

Phillips was the first player to score 30 goals in a season since the Premier League switched to a 38-game season, and his haul earned him both the Golden Boot and the European Golden Shoe. He is the only Englishman to have received the latter honour.

Erling Haaland – 14 appearances

Haaland broke the record for fastest to 20 goals. Photo by Premier League

Erling Haaland has broken yet another Premier League record, scoring 20 goals in just 14 Premier League appearances.

Haaland has had an incredible first season at Manchester City, breaking record after record in a prolific campaign. He is the first player in Premier League history to score hat-tricks in three consecutive home games, and he is the fastest footballer to achieve three trebles, taking only eight games.

Haaland broke Michael Owen’s previous record by 40 games with his third Premier League hat trick.

Nothing appears to be out of reach for the 22-year-old, who is closing in on the Premier League’s single-season goal record. He only needs 13 more goals to break Mohamed Salah’s record for a 38-game season, which he set in 2017/18.